This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Aitken, L. M., Rattray, J. and Hull, A. M. (2017), The creation of patient diaries as a therapeutic intervention – for whom?. Nurs Crit Care, 22: 67–69., which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/nicc.12286. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.